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The Order of the Furnace

Overview
The battle lines have been drawn.
The Kingdom of Eltsvine is falling apart. With the old king dead, Lena, Silas and the rest of what was left of the Order of the Furnace find themselves in a civil war against Queen Erin and her great armies and deadly assassins. Outnumbered and with nowhere to run, can Lena lead her friends to victory and bring peace to the kingdom once more?

REVIEWS of Order of the Furnace Book 1
'An exciting, rip-roaring, action packed book set in a time and place where fantastical machines exist alongside humans. The squires (made up of boys and girls) in the Order of the Furnace are young but they are treated equally, are valued, trusted and more than capable of fighting alongside the adults. The short, snappy chapters are full of intense danger and activity. The amazing war engines, apparatus and animalistic soul-machines add a zip of steampunk to proceedings. The story rockets along, with buckets of bravery needed by the squires in order to survive the skirmishes set in their way. A fabulous start to a thrilling new series that should appeal to boys and girls (and some adventurous adults too) - long live The Order of the Furnace!' Lovereading4kids

'The Order of the Furnace is a great book to read if you like action and adventure. You will like this book because of all the awesome fights and description about mechanical creatures. The characters are intriguing and well described. I would recommend this book to someone who likes great battles and good dialogue.' Ben – Year 5 (10 years old)

'A riveting, intriguing book with a unique twist.' Abraham Fisher, age 12.

'This book was great, filled with excitement from start to finish. I can't wait for book number two. If you like Fantasy stories with knights and dragons and adventure, you will love this.' Tomasz Hawryszczuk, age 10.

'Really enjoyed this adventure story it was full of action, plenty of sword fighting battles but not too gory. It was written with short chapters which helped me to set small reading goals as I am dyslexic.' Robert Heathcote, age 12.Haywired was the first book by acclaimed YF writer Alex Keller.

ABOUT HAYWIRED
'Intelligently written, with plenty of wry humour that adds to it's adult readability.HayWired is a fun fantasy adventure full of family secrets, a circus, pirates, steampunk machinery, dark twists and some excellent grimness. I look forward to the next one.' - Un:Bound

'The reader is gripped throughout...intrigue and suspicion pour from the pages thanks to rich characterisation. There is also a dark hopelessness as the story weaves on, a sense of imminent foreboding caused by an all too familiar hand. Even though the subject matter maybe somewhat fantastical, there is a solid reality to this world, a physical quality that makes it unnerving…I am excited to find out what happens to his characters next, and just what mesmerising spin Alex Keller will take us on in future incarnations.’ - The Solitary Bee

'Haywired is very different to the steampunk books I have read so far. The publishers are calling it a steampunk fairytale, and I cannot come up with a better phrase to describe it, as that is exactly how it reads. The fairytale feel to the story is there from the very first page and at times it is as if the Brothers Grimm were alive and well and writing for a steampunk loving audience. Like many fairytales it is also relatively short, weighing in at a slim 170 pages, but even so it still manages to pack quite a punch. Of course, most adults know that the Grimm fairy tales were exactly that - grim... Haywired is like this as well - the story is deliciously dark in places.' - Book Zone 4 Boys

"Fans of Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engine sequence will love this debut novel, Haywired – published by a smallish publisher this compelling tale of unearthed family secrets as well as some diabolical plans to turn the world inside out, it’s up to 11 year old Ludwig to rescue the world before any of the ghoulish machines hunt him down. With a plot that’s full of twists and turns on every page, it’s not to be missed." Lovereading.co.uk Debut Book of the Month

'This book is described by the publisher as 'a steampunk fairytale', and I can see that it will have appeal to both children and adults. It is a fast-paced story that has you wanting to read just one more chapter to find out what is going to happen next. Parents in Touch